Patrick became very
estimable
in their sight.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v3
, v.
, p.
51.
'3' See the Second Life, cap. xvii. , p. 12.
This seems, however, to be an anticipation of the event in narrative order.
'38 See the Sixth Life, cap. xvi,, p. 68.
'39 See the Seventh Life, hb. i. , cap. xxv. , p. 121.
^° The Fourth Life h—as
'• Thus, Probus has given the words of an angel, "iturus es ad patriam tuam," (lib.
merely the regular time of passage, with a fair wind, from Bantry Bay, or Kinsale, to any of the ports in Normandy, or in Britany. Harris has a preconceived idea, that, as St. Patrick was going to his own country, his voyage must have been directed towards the west of Great Britain. Accordingly, he tells us, that St. Patrick "is said to have had a bad voyage, having been three days
bishops of Armagh, p. 9.
'« Neither St. Patrick himself, nor Pro-
bus, says anything about imfavourable winds. But, in Probus' Life of St. Patrick,
lib. i. , cap. xiv. , p, 48, a voyage, clearly dis-
tinct from the one now treated of, is men-
tioned. a of this the During part passage,
that
it,
cos sinus pervenerunt. " Cap. xxiii. , p. 38.
wind was contrary
is stated to have senger said,
" vad—e ad here-
150.
ditatem tuam, de qua venisti. "
lib.
Lib.
^^ See ' ' Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
Patricii,"
cap. xiii. , pp. 47, 48.
i,, cap. XV. , p. 121.
'»? See Eutropius, "Historia," lib. xix.
" ad Britanni-
is stated to have been prolonged, for twelve days. See "Ecclesiastical History of Ire- i. , cap. iii. ), and, again, the heavenly mes- land," vol. i. , cap. iv. , sect, vii. , pp. 149,
i. ,
for we have received
"
tentes post triduum applicuerunt. Sexta
Ventis ad vota spirantibus, vela—commit- ""
on sea. "—Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Arch- "
and,
't* See " Vita S. Septima
voyage
;
2I
498 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
continued those incursions. '^^ The Vandals, the Alans, the Suevi, and other
hordes, ravaged the whole of the Gauls, during a. d. 407, and the following years-'-'s Succeeding civil wars augmented this desolation. ^so Until a. d.
417, Gaul was constantly plundered. '51 St. Patrick informs us, that many thousands of his countrymen had been captured and dispersed, amid various nations. '52 it seems probable, that many parts of Gaul were then wasted and uninhabited. Alearnedhistorian. Rev. Dr. Lanigan,thinks,St. Patrickmay have landed at, or near, Treguier,'53 a port in Britany. This French tradition, as found in some Breviaries, may account for the statement of his arrival in Great Britain. Through mistake, some accounts have mentioned Tours,'54astheplacewherehedisembarked; but,thiscityisfarfromthe provinceofBretagne. ^ss However,ProbuscallstheplaceofhislandingBrot- galum'56—supposed to have been identical with Bordeaux—where he arrived as a slave,^57 but where the Christians purchased him from his master, and restored him to iiberty. ^^s Yox twenty-eight days,'S9 St. Patrick and his com- panions journeyed through a desert. '^ Both meat and drink failed. ^^' The famine was increasing upon them, and one day the captain'^^ said to St.
Madame Dacier's edition, Paris, 1683. 4to.
'5^ Probus states, "venit cum —Gallis post "
and
'*8 See L. P.
Vita S. lib. Patricii,"
various provinces of that country.
'5° See Gibbon's " Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire," chap, xxx. , xxxi.
'5' See Ruinart's " Annales Francorum. " Tillemont's "Memoirs pour servi a I'His-
toire Ecclesiastique," tome x. , p. 555.
"
Sixth Life has him wandering in the desert for twenty-four days, twenty of which con-
tinuously he spent without food. See cap. xvii. , xviii. , p. 68. The seventh Life tells us, he wandered in the desert for twenty-five days. See pars, i. , cap. xxvi. , p. 121. These days, with the three spent on the sea- voyage, make twenty-eight in all.
'*° Some have conjectured, that the saint passed through Wales and England on his
'5* See Ware's edition.
pable
Confessio S. Patricii," pp. i, 2.
'S3 Near the extreme northern cape of the
present Department, C6tes-du-Nord.
'5< In the older Rheims Breviary, there is an error of the " for
He says, he was received
•'
press, Turonensem," Trecorensem. " Thismistakeisquitepal-
by
Britons,
as if who among people,
; for, the text goes on thus,
"
Tur—o- nensem minoris Britannise urbem vectus. "
Lect. iv.
'55 Such is the statement, found in the
Breviary of Rheims, the latest of which has been pubhshed, in the year 1612. There we
read :
"
Gallire mercatoribus ; qui ipsum
advexerunt ad T—recorensem minoris Britan-
nias civitatem. " Prima Appendix ad Acta
S. lect. iv. See "Trias
twenty-eight days
Patricii, Colgan's Thaumaturga," pp. 194, 195.
'5* This is presumed to have been a mis-
take for " Bordeaux.
Burdigalam,"
the Latin name for
'57 Probus has
it,
that when St. —Patrick
in his own Confession, while
came to a city called Arciennacte which
borders of Meath, near Drogheda—he was sold to a sailor iDound for Gaul, and the price paid for him was " solidos scilicet tri- ginta. ^'
Colgan interprets to have been on the
" Histoire de
dies duodecim ad Brotgalum. " Quinta
Anquetil's France," sect, iv. , pp. 2910 41.
''*9 As this journey, and Patrick's escape,
occurred possibly from A. D. 409 to 410, the
saint and his fellow-travellers might have pre-
ferred taking their course, through the most
unfrequented tracts. Thus might they best
avoid falling in with some of those ferocious
hordes, then roaming probably through days. See lib. i. , cap. xiv. , p. 48. The
i. , cap. xiii. , xiv. , nn. 13, 14, pp. 48, 62.
'59 See " Confessio S. Patricii," p. 7. The Second Life, cap. xix. , p. 13, and the Fourth Life, cap. xxiii. , p. 38, have the same statement. The Third Life has thirty days, cap. xvi. , p. 22. The Fifth Life brings him to Brotgalum, after a journey of twelve
way to France.
the
werehisownclanandkindred. Doubtless, there was close relationship of race and
between the insular and conti- nental Britons. But, it does not seem likely, that his companions abandoned their vessel, for this overland journey : it is rather more probable, they brought it direct to a Gallic port. In case Treguier were the harbour where he landed, it will be easily granted, in allowing for some necessary halts, that could have been no more than a reasonable time for a journey thence,
on foot, to Boulogne.
"' Some writers of St. Patrick's Lives
add circumstances to the matters more
simply related,
escaping to his home. Thus, according to Probus, St. Patrick preached in various towns on the way, and made many converts.
See "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S.
Patricii, lib. i. , cap. ix. , p. 51.
'*^
language,
St. Patrick designates him by the title
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
499
Patrick
:
** What is the matter with O Christian ? You you,
God is
say your greatandpowerful; whydoyounot,therefore,praytohimforus? Begfor us, as we are perishing with hunger, and scarcely shall we see mortal man
: anymore. "|But,St. Patrickconfidentlysaidtothem "Beconvertedtothe
:
Lord, my God, with your whole heart, for there is nothing impossible to him. He will send us meat this day, on our journey, until we are comforted, since abundance belongs to him. " By the assistance of God, it so happened ; for, behold, a herd of swine came before them on the road, and they killed some. There they remained two nights, with abundance of refreshment ; their dogs were surfeited, and many of them were left half dead upon the road. After all this, the wanderers gave great thanks to God, and St.
Patrick became very estimable in their sight. From that time forward, they had abundance of meat. '^3 They found even wild honey, which one of them offered to the saint, with the words
" This has been immolated to God, give thanks. " '^^ But, Patrick then refused to partake of it ; probably, because that man meant to say, that he considered it as a libation, offered, in the first instance, to his God, which was only an idol. '^s On this occasion, the holy youth ad- hered to the injunction of St. Paul,^^^ St. Patrick does not state, indeed, that his companions sacrificed the swine's flesh to idols, although this is mentioned, by some writers of his Acts. ^^7 This same night, Satan assailed him with violent temptations, which he long remembered. While dreaming, a huge
fragment of a rock seemed to fall upon him,^^^ and to paralyse all his limbs. But, he called, Elias, Elias,'^9 with all his might, and behold the brightness of
the sun fell upon him,^7o and dispersed all uneasiness. ^7^
He therefore
of "gubernator. " This was also the
epithet applied to the head man of the ship, who at first had refused to take him on board.
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. iii. March xvii.
'*9 The Second Life relates this matter in
'*3 The stories, told of St. Patrick's in-
'** " £t unus ex illis dixit, hoc immolati-
tavi. " Confessio S. Patricii," p. 8. From
the context, it would appear, that "
immo-
latitium was relative to the honey. The and sequence can be supplied from other
term may be used, either for sacrifices, or for libations.
'*5 Probus has given a strange turn to the
narrative. He says, that our saint's fellow-
sources. See n. 22, p. 17.
'7° There are some very interesting re-
marks, in connexion with this subject, in Dr.
Todd's "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland,"
travellers asked him to take some wild chap, ii. , pp. 370 to 373. A Hymn, in
honey, whereas he used not to eat flesh-
meat. See Fifth Life, lib. i. , cap. vii.
praise of Christ, has been published by Muratori, from the Irish Antiphonary of
'**
Although he teaches, that idols are
Bangor, and it occurs, also, in Dr. Todd's
nothing,
and
that,
without
asking questions,
" Liber It has been Hymnorum," p. 152.
it is lawful to eat whatever is sold in the
attributed to St. Hilary of Poictiers, and
market or laid before us ; yet, the Apostle there this word El is applied to Christ. St.
of the Gentiles lays down the following
"
Hilary was contemporaneous, too, with the Irish Apostle. In the old Matin lessons of
the ancient Breviary of the church Vales-
pirensis of Catalonia, in Spain, it is stated, that after the birth of a daughter, St. Hilary of Aquitain left the world and its enjoy- ments, to become initiated in sacred orders.
But if any man say : This has been
rule :
sacrificed to idols ; eat not of it for his sake that told it, and for conscience' sake ; Con- s—cience, I say, not thy own, but another's. "
I Cor. X. , 28, 29.
'*7 See Jocelyn, or the Sixth Life, cap.
xviii. ,p. 68,theTripartiteLife,cap. xxvii. , SeethatverylearnedandscarceworkofJohn
p. 121.
'**
Tamayo De Salazar, Priest, and intituled
•'
Butler was much mistaken, in making
Anamnesis sive Commemoratio Omnium a great stone really fall upon him. See Sanctorum Hispanorum, Pontificum, Mar-
''
the Irish sentence following
:
" Dar in ligh
tromligi foir, corod muich fri thalmhuin e : and of his from will ro Eli — comdia in mud
fancy, escape Ireland,
" ***
be found related, more at length, in Irish Folk Lore," by Lageniensis, chap, xxxiii. Saint Legends, pp. 295 to 299.
tium —est : Deo gratias. Exinde nihil gus- "
''
Cap. xx. , p. 1 3. In a note, Colgan remarks, that this imperfect sentence proves the writer to have been an Irishman. A Latin translation is then
given ; and, we are told, that in the St. Hubert and Alen Codices, the passage is found to be defective, although its meaning
guidh indarput uadh,
rigail. "
500 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
trusted that Christ, in reality, had regard for his prayers, and that the Holy Spirit cried out, and assisted him. As the Lord had said to his Apostles,
"
For it is not you that speak, but the spirit of your Father that speaketh in you ;" '72 so St. Patrick believed, that aid came from heaven, in the hour of his tribulation/73
Our Apostle speaks of his journey, in such a manner as to insinuate, that
he had some companions during the whole way. It seems probable, that these fellow-travellers of the saint were not sailors, in our acceptation of the
word. Accordingtothegeneralcustomofancienttraders,thosenavigators had gone themselves to Ireland, with the view, there to dispose of their goods.
After having purchased some articles in exchange, it is likely they were return- ing to their homes. We may easily suppose, their vessel had been a hired one ; while the managers and directors of its course were those roving merchants. It would seem, that some of those navigators belonged to our saint's own native place. '74 According to his own narrative, it seems clear,
and these are corroborated, likewise, by his own narrative.
that they received him as a friend, and brought him as a fellow-passenger
; hence, it is incorrect to state as some have done that St. Patrick had been ————
er in his own
which means that in which his friends dwelt are variously related. Thus, while some of his Acts simply relate a return to his parents,'7s others state, that he endured a second captivity before he reached them. '76 That his parents were then living, and tliat they received Patrick with great joy, on his escape from Ireland, are accounts, which we find in some of his biographies,
sold to these merchants. His adventures, aft arriving country
tyram, Confessorum, Virginum, Viduanim,
ac Sanctarum Mulieruni," «S:c. , lomus i. ,
Januar. , Dies xiii. , p. 143.
'7' "Et dum clamarem Heliam, Heliam,
viribus meis, ecce splendor soils decidit super me, et s—tatim discussit a me omnem gravitu- dinem. " "ConfessioS. Patricii,"p. 8.
'7=^ See Matt. x. 20.
*73 See the foregoing accomit in the Second Life, cap. xx. , p. 13 ; the Third Life, cap. xvii. , p. 22 ; the Fourth Life, cap. xxiv. , p. 38 ; the Fiftli Life, lib. i. , cap. viii. , p. 51 ; the Sixth Life, cap. xix. , p. 68 ; the Seventh Life, pars, i. , cap, xxviii. , p. 121.
'75 See the Second Life, cap. xxi. , p. 13, and the Fourth Life, cap. xxv. , p. 38.
''^ See the Third Life, cap. xviii. , p. 22. It slates, he was then a prisoner for two months. The Fifth Life has it, that this
occurred, many years after his first capture, and that he was then brought into a very distant country, to the language of which he
the — where he lived but, detained him two subjugate country, they only months,
'74 See Dr.
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iv. , sect, viii. , nn. 50, 51, 52, pp. 151 to 153.
was altogether a stranger
—"It is like the miracle of St. Patrick, who heaped an oven with snow. " The Tripartite Life makes our saint endure a third captivity, after he re- turned to his country, and had remained there three months. The Britons were his captors, and the devastators of his country ;
Lanigan's
applied,
within became, until it was quite congealed.
; that a heavenly message was conveyed to him, which announced he should only be in slavery for two months, and that he should then return to his country, where a third captivity was destined for him ; afterwards, he was to visit Rome, and thence returning, he was —to
parts
" Ecclesiastical His-
when the Angel Victor procured his release. and princes were to obey him. He was to See lib. i. , cap, xxix. , p. 121. His own
apparently Ireland to the Gospel. Kings
baptize people, in Scotia, Britain, Anglia, Normandy, and in other islands. On the sixtieth day, he was released from the hands of those barbarians ; and, flying, with other captives, the Providence of God supplied them with food, fire, and dry weather, until on the tenth day, they came among the people of their o%vn country. See lib. i. , cap. X. , pp. 47, 48. As usual, Jocelynadds something to the previous account, as that the Angel Victor was the messenger em- ployed to announce his release. Then, we are told, that the saint was sold for a chal- dron, which afterwards could not receive heat from the fire, and the more of this latter was the colder the water
Then the seller of our saint demanded the return of St. Patrick to captivity ; but, when the chaldron boiled beneath fire again ap- plied, this miracle was acknowledged, and thesaintthusobtainedhisliberty. Seecap. XX. , pp. 68, 69. It is probable, in reference to this legend, the following curious popular adage remains : When a man uses foolish means to effect an end, they say of him in some of France
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 501
CHAPTER V.
ST. Patrick's age and the time when he escaped to gaul—his second captivity —HIS VISION—his resolution TO EMBRACE THE CLERICAL STATE—HE SEEKS THE MONASTERYOFTOURS,TOPREPAREFORIT—LIFEATMARMOUTIER—ST. PATRICK'S promotion to HOLY ORDERS—HIS HEAVENLY INSPIRATIONS—HE STUDIES UNDER ST. GERMANUS OF AUXERRE—HIS LIFE IN ITALY—THE TYRRHENE ISLANDS—THE STAFF OF JESUS.
Our saint is generally considered to have attained the age of twenty-two, at the time of his return to Gaul from Ireland, which must have occurred about the close of the first decade in the fifth century. There, his sad experiences had rather matured his judgment, although they militated against his literary improvement. Hisparentsandfriendsweregreatlyrejoiced,athisrestora- tion to them, and they desired, that he should no more leave them. How- ever, Patrick had certain internal illuminations, that called him to a higher destiny. He seems to have resolved on embracing the clerical state, as one of choice. He did not enjoy, perhaps, for any great length of time the society of his parents^ or friends. ^ It is probable, St. Patrick had been carried off the second time, by some marauding Franks, who captured prisoners, for the purpose of selling them as slaves, or of extorting money from friends, for their ransom. 3 But, it is not easy to determine the exact period,tobeassignedforsuchdetention. Aftersixtydays,heescapedfrom his captors. From his own Confession, and from various old Acts, several modern writers have supposed, that all the vicissitudes of St. Patrick's cap- tivitiess preceded those periods, when his education and preparation for the sacred ministry had seriously commenced. Following the Tripartite Life,^ his second captivity is referred, by the Bollandists, to the period of three months, after returning to his own country. 7 Dr. Lanigan, who questions their accuracy in stating the time and place, is of opinion, that this second capture ought to be assigned to a period, after our saint had spent his four years of
study
Hymn states,
angel
at Tours. ^ A comment on St. Fiach's
how an having declared to St. Patrick, that he must cross the sea to study, the place
Confession seems to insinuate, that after
having been some years, at home, he was captured a second time. An inspiration was
given him, on the first night, that he should note,
be two months a and after prisoner, sixty
days he escaped from his captors. See
"
Opuscula S. Patricii. "
Father Villanueva's
"
Sancti Patricii, Iber-
"
himself speaks, in Epistola ad Coroti-
cum. "
St. Patrick says, "Nocte ilia sexagessima
norum Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opus-
cula," &c. Confessio S. Patricii, cap. ii. , liberavit me Dominus de manibus eorum. "
num.
'3' See the Second Life, cap. xvii. , p. 12.
This seems, however, to be an anticipation of the event in narrative order.
'38 See the Sixth Life, cap. xvi,, p. 68.
'39 See the Seventh Life, hb. i. , cap. xxv. , p. 121.
^° The Fourth Life h—as
'• Thus, Probus has given the words of an angel, "iturus es ad patriam tuam," (lib.
merely the regular time of passage, with a fair wind, from Bantry Bay, or Kinsale, to any of the ports in Normandy, or in Britany. Harris has a preconceived idea, that, as St. Patrick was going to his own country, his voyage must have been directed towards the west of Great Britain. Accordingly, he tells us, that St. Patrick "is said to have had a bad voyage, having been three days
bishops of Armagh, p. 9.
'« Neither St. Patrick himself, nor Pro-
bus, says anything about imfavourable winds. But, in Probus' Life of St. Patrick,
lib. i. , cap. xiv. , p, 48, a voyage, clearly dis-
tinct from the one now treated of, is men-
tioned. a of this the During part passage,
that
it,
cos sinus pervenerunt. " Cap. xxiii. , p. 38.
wind was contrary
is stated to have senger said,
" vad—e ad here-
150.
ditatem tuam, de qua venisti. "
lib.
Lib.
^^ See ' ' Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
Patricii,"
cap. xiii. , pp. 47, 48.
i,, cap. XV. , p. 121.
'»? See Eutropius, "Historia," lib. xix.
" ad Britanni-
is stated to have been prolonged, for twelve days. See "Ecclesiastical History of Ire- i. , cap. iii. ), and, again, the heavenly mes- land," vol. i. , cap. iv. , sect, vii. , pp. 149,
i. ,
for we have received
"
tentes post triduum applicuerunt. Sexta
Ventis ad vota spirantibus, vela—commit- ""
on sea. "—Harris' Ware, vol. i. , "Arch- "
and,
't* See " Vita S. Septima
voyage
;
2I
498 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
continued those incursions. '^^ The Vandals, the Alans, the Suevi, and other
hordes, ravaged the whole of the Gauls, during a. d. 407, and the following years-'-'s Succeeding civil wars augmented this desolation. ^so Until a. d.
417, Gaul was constantly plundered. '51 St. Patrick informs us, that many thousands of his countrymen had been captured and dispersed, amid various nations. '52 it seems probable, that many parts of Gaul were then wasted and uninhabited. Alearnedhistorian. Rev. Dr. Lanigan,thinks,St. Patrickmay have landed at, or near, Treguier,'53 a port in Britany. This French tradition, as found in some Breviaries, may account for the statement of his arrival in Great Britain. Through mistake, some accounts have mentioned Tours,'54astheplacewherehedisembarked; but,thiscityisfarfromthe provinceofBretagne. ^ss However,ProbuscallstheplaceofhislandingBrot- galum'56—supposed to have been identical with Bordeaux—where he arrived as a slave,^57 but where the Christians purchased him from his master, and restored him to iiberty. ^^s Yox twenty-eight days,'S9 St. Patrick and his com- panions journeyed through a desert. '^ Both meat and drink failed. ^^' The famine was increasing upon them, and one day the captain'^^ said to St.
Madame Dacier's edition, Paris, 1683. 4to.
'5^ Probus states, "venit cum —Gallis post "
and
'*8 See L. P.
Vita S. lib. Patricii,"
various provinces of that country.
'5° See Gibbon's " Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire," chap, xxx. , xxxi.
'5' See Ruinart's " Annales Francorum. " Tillemont's "Memoirs pour servi a I'His-
toire Ecclesiastique," tome x. , p. 555.
"
Sixth Life has him wandering in the desert for twenty-four days, twenty of which con-
tinuously he spent without food. See cap. xvii. , xviii. , p. 68. The seventh Life tells us, he wandered in the desert for twenty-five days. See pars, i. , cap. xxvi. , p. 121. These days, with the three spent on the sea- voyage, make twenty-eight in all.
'*° Some have conjectured, that the saint passed through Wales and England on his
'5* See Ware's edition.
pable
Confessio S. Patricii," pp. i, 2.
'S3 Near the extreme northern cape of the
present Department, C6tes-du-Nord.
'5< In the older Rheims Breviary, there is an error of the " for
He says, he was received
•'
press, Turonensem," Trecorensem. " Thismistakeisquitepal-
by
Britons,
as if who among people,
; for, the text goes on thus,
"
Tur—o- nensem minoris Britannise urbem vectus. "
Lect. iv.
'55 Such is the statement, found in the
Breviary of Rheims, the latest of which has been pubhshed, in the year 1612. There we
read :
"
Gallire mercatoribus ; qui ipsum
advexerunt ad T—recorensem minoris Britan-
nias civitatem. " Prima Appendix ad Acta
S. lect. iv. See "Trias
twenty-eight days
Patricii, Colgan's Thaumaturga," pp. 194, 195.
'5* This is presumed to have been a mis-
take for " Bordeaux.
Burdigalam,"
the Latin name for
'57 Probus has
it,
that when St. —Patrick
in his own Confession, while
came to a city called Arciennacte which
borders of Meath, near Drogheda—he was sold to a sailor iDound for Gaul, and the price paid for him was " solidos scilicet tri- ginta. ^'
Colgan interprets to have been on the
" Histoire de
dies duodecim ad Brotgalum. " Quinta
Anquetil's France," sect, iv. , pp. 2910 41.
''*9 As this journey, and Patrick's escape,
occurred possibly from A. D. 409 to 410, the
saint and his fellow-travellers might have pre-
ferred taking their course, through the most
unfrequented tracts. Thus might they best
avoid falling in with some of those ferocious
hordes, then roaming probably through days. See lib. i. , cap. xiv. , p. 48. The
i. , cap. xiii. , xiv. , nn. 13, 14, pp. 48, 62.
'59 See " Confessio S. Patricii," p. 7. The Second Life, cap. xix. , p. 13, and the Fourth Life, cap. xxiii. , p. 38, have the same statement. The Third Life has thirty days, cap. xvi. , p. 22. The Fifth Life brings him to Brotgalum, after a journey of twelve
way to France.
the
werehisownclanandkindred. Doubtless, there was close relationship of race and
between the insular and conti- nental Britons. But, it does not seem likely, that his companions abandoned their vessel, for this overland journey : it is rather more probable, they brought it direct to a Gallic port. In case Treguier were the harbour where he landed, it will be easily granted, in allowing for some necessary halts, that could have been no more than a reasonable time for a journey thence,
on foot, to Boulogne.
"' Some writers of St. Patrick's Lives
add circumstances to the matters more
simply related,
escaping to his home. Thus, according to Probus, St. Patrick preached in various towns on the way, and made many converts.
See "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S.
Patricii, lib. i. , cap. ix. , p. 51.
'*^
language,
St. Patrick designates him by the title
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
499
Patrick
:
** What is the matter with O Christian ? You you,
God is
say your greatandpowerful; whydoyounot,therefore,praytohimforus? Begfor us, as we are perishing with hunger, and scarcely shall we see mortal man
: anymore. "|But,St. Patrickconfidentlysaidtothem "Beconvertedtothe
:
Lord, my God, with your whole heart, for there is nothing impossible to him. He will send us meat this day, on our journey, until we are comforted, since abundance belongs to him. " By the assistance of God, it so happened ; for, behold, a herd of swine came before them on the road, and they killed some. There they remained two nights, with abundance of refreshment ; their dogs were surfeited, and many of them were left half dead upon the road. After all this, the wanderers gave great thanks to God, and St.
Patrick became very estimable in their sight. From that time forward, they had abundance of meat. '^3 They found even wild honey, which one of them offered to the saint, with the words
" This has been immolated to God, give thanks. " '^^ But, Patrick then refused to partake of it ; probably, because that man meant to say, that he considered it as a libation, offered, in the first instance, to his God, which was only an idol. '^s On this occasion, the holy youth ad- hered to the injunction of St. Paul,^^^ St. Patrick does not state, indeed, that his companions sacrificed the swine's flesh to idols, although this is mentioned, by some writers of his Acts. ^^7 This same night, Satan assailed him with violent temptations, which he long remembered. While dreaming, a huge
fragment of a rock seemed to fall upon him,^^^ and to paralyse all his limbs. But, he called, Elias, Elias,'^9 with all his might, and behold the brightness of
the sun fell upon him,^7o and dispersed all uneasiness. ^7^
He therefore
of "gubernator. " This was also the
epithet applied to the head man of the ship, who at first had refused to take him on board.
Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and other principal Saints," vol. iii. March xvii.
'*9 The Second Life relates this matter in
'*3 The stories, told of St. Patrick's in-
'** " £t unus ex illis dixit, hoc immolati-
tavi. " Confessio S. Patricii," p. 8. From
the context, it would appear, that "
immo-
latitium was relative to the honey. The and sequence can be supplied from other
term may be used, either for sacrifices, or for libations.
'*5 Probus has given a strange turn to the
narrative. He says, that our saint's fellow-
sources. See n. 22, p. 17.
'7° There are some very interesting re-
marks, in connexion with this subject, in Dr.
Todd's "St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland,"
travellers asked him to take some wild chap, ii. , pp. 370 to 373. A Hymn, in
honey, whereas he used not to eat flesh-
meat. See Fifth Life, lib. i. , cap. vii.
praise of Christ, has been published by Muratori, from the Irish Antiphonary of
'**
Although he teaches, that idols are
Bangor, and it occurs, also, in Dr. Todd's
nothing,
and
that,
without
asking questions,
" Liber It has been Hymnorum," p. 152.
it is lawful to eat whatever is sold in the
attributed to St. Hilary of Poictiers, and
market or laid before us ; yet, the Apostle there this word El is applied to Christ. St.
of the Gentiles lays down the following
"
Hilary was contemporaneous, too, with the Irish Apostle. In the old Matin lessons of
the ancient Breviary of the church Vales-
pirensis of Catalonia, in Spain, it is stated, that after the birth of a daughter, St. Hilary of Aquitain left the world and its enjoy- ments, to become initiated in sacred orders.
But if any man say : This has been
rule :
sacrificed to idols ; eat not of it for his sake that told it, and for conscience' sake ; Con- s—cience, I say, not thy own, but another's. "
I Cor. X. , 28, 29.
'*7 See Jocelyn, or the Sixth Life, cap.
xviii. ,p. 68,theTripartiteLife,cap. xxvii. , SeethatverylearnedandscarceworkofJohn
p. 121.
'**
Tamayo De Salazar, Priest, and intituled
•'
Butler was much mistaken, in making
Anamnesis sive Commemoratio Omnium a great stone really fall upon him. See Sanctorum Hispanorum, Pontificum, Mar-
''
the Irish sentence following
:
" Dar in ligh
tromligi foir, corod muich fri thalmhuin e : and of his from will ro Eli — comdia in mud
fancy, escape Ireland,
" ***
be found related, more at length, in Irish Folk Lore," by Lageniensis, chap, xxxiii. Saint Legends, pp. 295 to 299.
tium —est : Deo gratias. Exinde nihil gus- "
''
Cap. xx. , p. 1 3. In a note, Colgan remarks, that this imperfect sentence proves the writer to have been an Irishman. A Latin translation is then
given ; and, we are told, that in the St. Hubert and Alen Codices, the passage is found to be defective, although its meaning
guidh indarput uadh,
rigail. "
500 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [March 17.
trusted that Christ, in reality, had regard for his prayers, and that the Holy Spirit cried out, and assisted him. As the Lord had said to his Apostles,
"
For it is not you that speak, but the spirit of your Father that speaketh in you ;" '72 so St. Patrick believed, that aid came from heaven, in the hour of his tribulation/73
Our Apostle speaks of his journey, in such a manner as to insinuate, that
he had some companions during the whole way. It seems probable, that these fellow-travellers of the saint were not sailors, in our acceptation of the
word. Accordingtothegeneralcustomofancienttraders,thosenavigators had gone themselves to Ireland, with the view, there to dispose of their goods.
After having purchased some articles in exchange, it is likely they were return- ing to their homes. We may easily suppose, their vessel had been a hired one ; while the managers and directors of its course were those roving merchants. It would seem, that some of those navigators belonged to our saint's own native place. '74 According to his own narrative, it seems clear,
and these are corroborated, likewise, by his own narrative.
that they received him as a friend, and brought him as a fellow-passenger
; hence, it is incorrect to state as some have done that St. Patrick had been ————
er in his own
which means that in which his friends dwelt are variously related. Thus, while some of his Acts simply relate a return to his parents,'7s others state, that he endured a second captivity before he reached them. '76 That his parents were then living, and tliat they received Patrick with great joy, on his escape from Ireland, are accounts, which we find in some of his biographies,
sold to these merchants. His adventures, aft arriving country
tyram, Confessorum, Virginum, Viduanim,
ac Sanctarum Mulieruni," «S:c. , lomus i. ,
Januar. , Dies xiii. , p. 143.
'7' "Et dum clamarem Heliam, Heliam,
viribus meis, ecce splendor soils decidit super me, et s—tatim discussit a me omnem gravitu- dinem. " "ConfessioS. Patricii,"p. 8.
'7=^ See Matt. x. 20.
*73 See the foregoing accomit in the Second Life, cap. xx. , p. 13 ; the Third Life, cap. xvii. , p. 22 ; the Fourth Life, cap. xxiv. , p. 38 ; the Fiftli Life, lib. i. , cap. viii. , p. 51 ; the Sixth Life, cap. xix. , p. 68 ; the Seventh Life, pars, i. , cap, xxviii. , p. 121.
'75 See the Second Life, cap. xxi. , p. 13, and the Fourth Life, cap. xxv. , p. 38.
''^ See the Third Life, cap. xviii. , p. 22. It slates, he was then a prisoner for two months. The Fifth Life has it, that this
occurred, many years after his first capture, and that he was then brought into a very distant country, to the language of which he
the — where he lived but, detained him two subjugate country, they only months,
'74 See Dr.
tory of Ireland," vol. i. , chap, iv. , sect, viii. , nn. 50, 51, 52, pp. 151 to 153.
was altogether a stranger
—"It is like the miracle of St. Patrick, who heaped an oven with snow. " The Tripartite Life makes our saint endure a third captivity, after he re- turned to his country, and had remained there three months. The Britons were his captors, and the devastators of his country ;
Lanigan's
applied,
within became, until it was quite congealed.
; that a heavenly message was conveyed to him, which announced he should only be in slavery for two months, and that he should then return to his country, where a third captivity was destined for him ; afterwards, he was to visit Rome, and thence returning, he was —to
parts
" Ecclesiastical His-
when the Angel Victor procured his release. and princes were to obey him. He was to See lib. i. , cap, xxix. , p. 121. His own
apparently Ireland to the Gospel. Kings
baptize people, in Scotia, Britain, Anglia, Normandy, and in other islands. On the sixtieth day, he was released from the hands of those barbarians ; and, flying, with other captives, the Providence of God supplied them with food, fire, and dry weather, until on the tenth day, they came among the people of their o%vn country. See lib. i. , cap. X. , pp. 47, 48. As usual, Jocelynadds something to the previous account, as that the Angel Victor was the messenger em- ployed to announce his release. Then, we are told, that the saint was sold for a chal- dron, which afterwards could not receive heat from the fire, and the more of this latter was the colder the water
Then the seller of our saint demanded the return of St. Patrick to captivity ; but, when the chaldron boiled beneath fire again ap- plied, this miracle was acknowledged, and thesaintthusobtainedhisliberty. Seecap. XX. , pp. 68, 69. It is probable, in reference to this legend, the following curious popular adage remains : When a man uses foolish means to effect an end, they say of him in some of France
March 17. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 501
CHAPTER V.
ST. Patrick's age and the time when he escaped to gaul—his second captivity —HIS VISION—his resolution TO EMBRACE THE CLERICAL STATE—HE SEEKS THE MONASTERYOFTOURS,TOPREPAREFORIT—LIFEATMARMOUTIER—ST. PATRICK'S promotion to HOLY ORDERS—HIS HEAVENLY INSPIRATIONS—HE STUDIES UNDER ST. GERMANUS OF AUXERRE—HIS LIFE IN ITALY—THE TYRRHENE ISLANDS—THE STAFF OF JESUS.
Our saint is generally considered to have attained the age of twenty-two, at the time of his return to Gaul from Ireland, which must have occurred about the close of the first decade in the fifth century. There, his sad experiences had rather matured his judgment, although they militated against his literary improvement. Hisparentsandfriendsweregreatlyrejoiced,athisrestora- tion to them, and they desired, that he should no more leave them. How- ever, Patrick had certain internal illuminations, that called him to a higher destiny. He seems to have resolved on embracing the clerical state, as one of choice. He did not enjoy, perhaps, for any great length of time the society of his parents^ or friends. ^ It is probable, St. Patrick had been carried off the second time, by some marauding Franks, who captured prisoners, for the purpose of selling them as slaves, or of extorting money from friends, for their ransom. 3 But, it is not easy to determine the exact period,tobeassignedforsuchdetention. Aftersixtydays,heescapedfrom his captors. From his own Confession, and from various old Acts, several modern writers have supposed, that all the vicissitudes of St. Patrick's cap- tivitiess preceded those periods, when his education and preparation for the sacred ministry had seriously commenced. Following the Tripartite Life,^ his second captivity is referred, by the Bollandists, to the period of three months, after returning to his own country. 7 Dr. Lanigan, who questions their accuracy in stating the time and place, is of opinion, that this second capture ought to be assigned to a period, after our saint had spent his four years of
study
Hymn states,
angel
at Tours. ^ A comment on St. Fiach's
how an having declared to St. Patrick, that he must cross the sea to study, the place
Confession seems to insinuate, that after
having been some years, at home, he was captured a second time. An inspiration was
given him, on the first night, that he should note,
be two months a and after prisoner, sixty
days he escaped from his captors. See
"
Opuscula S. Patricii. "
Father Villanueva's
"
Sancti Patricii, Iber-
"
himself speaks, in Epistola ad Coroti-
cum. "
St. Patrick says, "Nocte ilia sexagessima
norum Apostoli, Synodi, Canones, Opus-
cula," &c. Confessio S. Patricii, cap. ii. , liberavit me Dominus de manibus eorum. "
num.
